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The
British and Dutch governments have filed a claim of up to £5.3bn against
Iceland's
deposit insurance fund over money that savers in the UK and the Netherlands were
compensated for when the Icesave online bank collapsed in 2008.

The Icelandic fund (TIF) says today that the
Dutch Central Bank (DNB) and the British Financial Services Compensation Scheme
(FSCS), have filed suit against the Icelandic Depositors and Investors Guarantee
Fund - TIF, before the District Court of Reykjavík. The DNB and the FSCS paid
compensation to depositors in the Netherlands and the UK at the collapse of
Landsbanki Íslands hf. (currently LBI hf.). The compensation was due to deposits
in LBI hf.’s Icesave accounts in the Netherlands and the UK.

"The DNB and FSCS
demand that the TIF be ordered to pay, or confirmation that the TIF was
obligated to pay in full a minimum guarantee or up to €20,887 per depositor,
with interest and costs. The principal without interest and costs amounts to
just under ISK 556bn. The FSCS’s claim amounts to ISK 452.1bn and
the Dutch Central Bank’s claim amounts to ISK 103.6 billion. The court cases
were filed on 28 November 2013."

TIF said it has only funds to pay 2% of the
claims. "Should their claims be
successful it is clear that the TIF will have difficulties in fulfilling its
primary obligation of guaranteeing deposits in Iceland in the future. It should
be noted that both the DNB and FSCS disbursed funds to depositors in their
countries on their own initiative and without a request or consent of the TIF,"
said TIF.

Iceland's voters have twice rejected sovereign
responsibility for the debts and the liquidation of the failed Landsbanki (the
government took control of the old bank and it established a new bank with a
similar name), Icesave's parent, has been gradually paying money back to the UK
and Dutch authorities, returning about half of their claims so far.